Bucks power up to clinch title

March 07, 2009|By JACK WALKDEN Tribune Staff Writer

BUCHANAN -- Nothing has come easy this season for Buchanan's boys basketball team. A stretch of weather-related postponements in January forced the Bucks to play 16 games during the final six weeks of the season. Even Thursday night, in the schedule regular-season finale, Buchanan's game against Coloma was halted just under four minutes into the contest because of a city-wide power failure. When the game finally resumed a night later, with a share of the conference title on the line, Reid McBeth's team fell behind by 12 in the second quarter. But Buchanan overcame every obstacle. And powered by a 23-0 second-half run, the Bucks downed Coloma, 54-38, Friday night to earn a share of the school's first boys basketball conference title in 31 years. "It's a great feeling," said McBeth after his team finished 11-3 in the Lakeland Conference to tie Bridgman. "It's especially great for these kids. They look up at the banner in the gym every day and see the district and regional titles in recent years. But no conference title since 1978. That bothered them. "Then we started 2-3 in the league, but they kept believing in themselves and kept fighting. They accomplished a lot this year, and the conference title is icing on the cake." Buchanan, now 16-4 overall with 13 wins in its last 14 games, was content with shooting 3s in the first half and struggled offensively. Coloma, which fell to 8-6 in the league and 10-10 overall, on the other hand, moved the ball well, got good shots and at one point led 26-14. "Coach said at halftime we were playing right into their hands by taking unnecessary shots," Buchanan guard Derek Anglero said. "He said we needed to take the ball to the hole and get physical." "We were playing too fast in the first half," forward Clinton Orr added. "In the second half we started making the extra pass and attacking the basket." That and Buchanan's fullcourt pressure defense forced a tempo that Coloma really didn't want to play. Still down 33-24 with six minutes left in the third period, the Bucks went on the 23-0 spree with 14 of the points coming off 11 Comet turnovers during the stretch. "We just needed to relax," McBeth said. "I think the kids felt extra pressure tonight with the conference title on the line. We just needed to relax. I told them at halftime to play like we had for 19 games to get to this point. "It wasn't shooting 3s. It was playing team ball. Once we got on that run, the kids forgot about what was at stake and just played basketball." "We knew they'd crank up the pressure," Coloma coach Brent Nate said. "But we just couldn't make a shot in the second half (4 for 30). We had some good looks, but didn't make anything. And that allowed them to rebound and take off." Orr finished with 20 points, including 10 during the 23-0 run, to go with nine rebounds and five steals. Derek Anglero, added 18 for Buchanan, which hit 12 of 21 second-half field goal tries (57 percent). BUCHANAN 54, COLOMA 38At Buchanan COLOMA (38): Chris Dew 6 0-0 15, Alex Roman 1 0-0 2, T.J. Scott 3 0-0 6, Christian Piotrowski 5 0-1 10, Matt Page 0 1-2 1, Sam Swihart 1 0-0 2, Robert Hampton 1 0-0 2. TOTALS 17 1-3 38. BUCHANAN (54): Clinton Orr 8 2-2 20, Richie Reed 2 2-3 6, Evan Cauffman 0 0-0 0, Spencer Anglero 1 2-4 4, Derek Anglero 5 6-6 18, Daniel Blackwell 0 0-2 0, Marquis Tyler 2 2-2 6, Ryan Catalano 0 0-0 0, Jeff Jerue 0 0-0 0, Bryan Kuntz 0 0-0 0. TOTALS 18 14-19 54. Coloma15293338Buchanan142043543-point baskets: Coloma 3 (Dew 3), Buchanan 4 (D. Anglero 2, Orr 2). Total fouls: Coloma 17, Buchanan 11. Field goal shooting: Buchanan 18 for 46 (39 percent), Coloma 17 for 58 (29 percent). Rebounding: Coloma 37 (Piotrowski 15), Buchanan 36 (Orr 9, Tyler 6). Turnovers: Coloma 18, Buchanan 14. JV score: Buchanan 58, Coloma 43. Varsity records: Buchanan 16-4 (11-3 Lakeland Conference), Coloma 10-10 (8-6 Lakeland Conference).